Press Release

May 21, 2015

Contact: Yakira Heller
NGO Monitor
02-566-1020

yakira.heller@ngo-monitor.org
"Breaking the Silence" in Zurich: Foreign Events and Foreign Funding

Jerusalem - From June 4 to 14, the Israeli political advocacy group
"Breaking the Silence" (BtS) is scheduled to hold an exhibit and series of
events at the Kulturhaus Helferei in Zurich.

According to NGO Monitor, this event featuring a highly politicized fringe
Israeli organization is inappropriately and immorally sponsored by the Swiss
Foreign Ministry, the Municipality of Zurich, and several church groups that
are active in nti-Israel campaigns.

"By supporting this event which contributes to the demonization of Israel,
the Swiss Federal Government and the City of Zurich use taxpayer funds in
violation of diplomatic norms between friendly countries," stated Itai
Reuveni, a researcher at NGO Monitor. "Swiss support for Breaking the
Silence contributes to the politicization of human rights that is destroying
these universal values."

As shown by NGO Monitor research, despite claiming and receiving funding in
order to address Israeli society, BtS's lobbying and media advocacy
campaigns focus significantly on international audiences, including
appearances in France, Norway, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland,
UK, and the US. These events feature anonymous testimonies that cannot be
verified, stripped of the context of brutal warfare and terrorism targeting
Israelis. As a result, a large number of Israelis soldiers have protested
the BtS campaigns in Israel, but do not have the opportunities or funds to
to present their counter testimonies in Zurich or elsewhere.

NGO Monitor research also reveals that several of BtS's foreign donors
conditioned their grants to the group on its ability to gather a minimum
number of "testimonies" that are hostile to the IDF. These conditions
further damage the NGO's credibility.

Reuveni continued: "An event in Zurich will not add to the debate within the
Israeli public about the moral dilemmas and complexities of urban combat
faced by Israeli soldiers. Instead, Breaking the Silence is exploiting the
language of human rights to overseas audiences in order to advance their
private political agendas, satisfy donors and contributing to the immoral
campaign to delegitimize Israel."

NGO Monitor, an independent research institution, was founded in 2002 in the
wake of the World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa. At this
conference, 1,500 NGOs formulated the "Durban Strategy" which aims to
isolate Israel through measures such as boycott, divestment and sanctions
(BDS) campaigns, lawfare, delegitimization and demonization.

NGO Monitor (www.ngo-monitor.org), is the leading source of expertise on the
activities and funding of political advocacy NGOs involved in the
Arab-Israeli conflict. NGO Monitor provides detailed and fully sourced
information and analysis, promotes accountability, and supports discussion
on the reports and activities of NGOs (non-governmental organizations)
claiming to advance human rights and humanitarian agendas.

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